Abraham Lincoln once said “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.” And after a week of silence regarding the tragic shootings in Newtown, CT, the NRA learned that lesson the hard way. This afternoon, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre held a press conference where he suggested that having armed guards in all schools would prevent something like Newtown from happening again.

On Tuesday, the National Rifle Association released its first statement regarding the horrific shooting in Newtown, CT. It was brief and concise — mainly because much of the original draft was edited out. Fortunately, a copy of the unabridged version was made available to us.